Nilaish Banknotes World

By Nilaish Life Member of IBNS-IBCC "It is dear to those who loves currency notes and its history, but is there any future for stock pickers?"   Collecting paper money hobby is a very educative hobby, but I suspect that very few collectors understand it?! I started collecting Indian paper money since 1998 and yet not grown out of my boyhood passion. I saw many trends in the market culture of traders of Indian paper money. Sometime back it was very high ... and now it is low! There are few things, which I noted during my journey of 18 years of collecting. This article focuses on the collector-side and as well as the investor-side of this hobby! Earlier, I had observed: October 18, 2000 edition of the magazine: "Intelligent Investor" which published an article about investing in and collecting Indian paper money. The article was titled, "GET NOTE WORTHY!" authored by Chumki Bharadawaj. She defined the hobby of collecting paper money of India in an i...

Auction: 15008 - World Banknotes:  Lot: 2031   Gulf Rupees (Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and the Trucial States),   specimen 10 rupees, ND (1959), serial number 0/00 000000, red and green and pale orange, for the Reserve Bank of India, Ashoka pillar at right, signature of H.V.R.Lengar low right, reverse red and mauve, dhow and seal at centre  (Pick R3s, Razack-Jhunjhunwalla 6.12.3.1),   black SPECIMEN overprint, ink letter 'A' top left, good extremely fine and very rare .  Subject to 20% VAT on both Hammer Price and Buyer’s Premium. For more information please view Terms and Conditions for Buyers. [Courtesy: SPINK & SONS LTD].  Sold for GBP 19,000 + 20% VAT  Reported from SPINK WEB / CATALOGUE   

Bank of Bengal, 100 Sicca Rupees, 13th Sep. 1832, Serial number 30994, sign cut and cancelled. Image Courtesy: Archives International Auctions  Archives International Auctions sold above note of Bank of Bengal for US$ 2700 on 4th June 2014 in an auction. They said that they never handled  these type of notes before! [ Source 1 ]. However this issue was 6th type listed in major catalogues. It is a very rare note and highly collectibles in this form as well. AIA graded this note in the region of Choice Fine to VF. To have an example of this period is a very challenging preposition. 

Nilaish Life Member - IBNS-IBCC "There are few notes denominated 500 Rupees are issued by RBI in 2014 which are signed by D. Subbarao, is a very interesting observation. However, it is said by RBI that process of changing signatures on notes of the new Governor is a tedious process."   The Hindustan Times correspondent reported that ( HT: 4 March 2014 ), "Take Note: RBI goofs up, as invalid notes in circulation".. It is found that some 500 Rupees notes of 2014 carry signature of D. Subbarao, who was previous Governor of RBI in 2013. New Governor, Raghuram Rajan joined the office in the same year. I came across an example and thus, collected it. It is presently sold in collector's market for Rs. 750-1000. An example can be seen below from my collection:  2014: 500 Rupees, signed by Duvvuri Subbarao having serial number 3KN 417376 with inset E. The HT correspondent reported that, "In an embarrassing goof-up, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) h...

Nilaish Life Member - IBNS-IBCC "It is surprising that commonly collectors cherish for Portrait Notes of Kings and Queens... which were issued after regulation of 1861 in India. It is a challenge for any collector, to possess any example prior to 1861!"  I ndia has a vast history of paper money. It dates back to 1770 A.D. when Bank of Hindostan was first founded and issued paper money in India. India was divided into three Presidencies viz; Bengal Presidency, Bombay Presidency and Madras Presidency. East India Company was ruling these three presidencies and Governor General in Council was responsible for rules and regulations in provinces. India was under East India Company Rule till 1858, when the transfer of power happened to the British Crown, Queen Victoria. Bagachi (1997) and DasGupta (1927) recorded that Indian Banking was regulated time and again by East India Company owned banks; Bank of Bengal (1809-1922), Bank of Bombay (1840-1922) and Bank of Madras (184...

Nilaish - Collector & Numismatist IBNS grading is a Banknote grading norm and is accepted by most of the collectors and dealers around the world. If we observe IBNS grading standard for Indian Paper Money it faces following problems: 1. Banknotes prior to 1860 are mostly cancelled and cut by the bank, which is a big issue for grading. Collectors thus have no information about its grading. 2.After 1861 Government of India notes were stamped, cut portions to index the notes, which makes the grading of these notes unworthy in terms of IBNS.  3. British India notes till 1948 were stapled or stitched which degrades the note as it is almost impossible to obtain examples higher than these grades. 4. Republic India notes were stapled till 2005 or later which again makes grading principle amendable. Definitions:  As per notes which have survived we grade notes in following classes which are mostly acknowledged in all private collections. Good:  A well worn ...

by Nilaish - Life Mem. IBNS-IBCC Uniface series notes of India fall in circulation between 1861 and 1927. All known signatures are shown on notes below with period of issue. My acknowledgements to Rezwan Razack for images. 10 Rupees dated 9 May 1862  Major H. Hydes  Signature seen between 1861-62 (Image Courtesy: Rezwan Razack)  10 Rupees dated 8 June 1863  J.A. Ballard  Signature seen between 1863-64 (Image Courtesy: SPINK)  20 Rupees dated 15 May 1862  C.W. Clerdin and H. Hydes  Signatures seen on a note  20 Rupees dated 10 June 1864  S.K. Lambert and J.A. Ballard  signatures seen on a note.  Image Courtesy: Rezwan Razack  100 Rupees dated 5 May 1864 G.W. Cline and H. Hydes  Only note seen  Image Courtesy: RBI  Green Underprint Notes 10 Rupees dated 6 Oct. 1866  H. Hydes  Only note seen  Image Courtesy: Rezwan Razac...